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Sage Sound Singers looking for more voices to join choir

Group is planning Christmas concert but needs more singers, especially women
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Michelle Reid (l), founder, musical director, and conductor of the Sage Sound Singers choir in Ashcroft, accepts a cheque from Second Time Around for their 2020 Christmas concert. (Photo credit: Submitted)

The Sage Sound Singers choir is looking for a few voices to help them out, as they begin rehearsals for what they hope will be their first in-person concert in more than two years.

Choir director Michelle Reid says that they are particularly looking for female singers, in any voice range. “We’ll fit people in wherever they need to be,” she says. “You don’t have to be able to read music, just know how to carry a tune. We’re reaching out to anyone who’s interested.”

The choir is down to just three women at the moment, and Reid says that while she’s primarily looking for female singers, she would welcome anyone, male or female, who would like to take part.

The singers have started rehearsals for their annual Christmas concert, and are planning two live performances at the Ashcroft HUB: an evening show on Saturday, Dec. 18 and a matinee on Sunday, Dec. 19. They would be the first live shows since the “Tribute to Fiddler on the Roof” concert in fall 2019; because of the intense preparations for that concert, there was no Christmas show that year.

The choir planned, and rehearsed for, a Christmas concert in December 2020, but a sudden tightening of COVID-19 restrictions meant that the group had to film one of their final rehearsals instead. Longtime choir member Jim Mertel says that if for some reason they can’t do a live concert this year, they’ll do another virtual one.

“We’re doing a mix of old and new pieces,” he says. One of the highlights will be the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah; another new piece will be the haunting “Walking in the Air” from the animated Christmas special The Snowman.

Mertel says that in addition to the main choir, a small subset of singers will be doing a few harder pieces. “It’s more intimate that way. Michelle has such a good ear, and such a talent for picking songs with beautiful melodies.”

Rehearsals for the main choir are every Tuesday night from 7 to 9 p.m. at the HUB. Reid says that all choir members have to be double vaccinated, and HUB COVID-19 protocols, such as signing in and hand sanitizing, will be followed. “It’s a very safe environment,” she notes.

For more information about the Sage Sound Singers, contact Reid at (250) 457-0701 or Mertel at (250) 457-7040.



editorial@accjournal.ca

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